Abeaham ayees



INVENTOR BY ATTORNEYS Patented Aug. 9,.1881.

0 H SH W Y 1w A AM W (No Model.)

WITNESSES:

v M @X wrrE- ABRAHAM AYRES, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

RAILROAD-SWITCH.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 245,428, dated August 9, 1881.

Application filed June 22, 1881.

To all whom it may concern Beit known that I, ABRAHAM AYRES, of the city, county, and State of New York, have in vented a new and useful Improvement in Railroad-Switches, of which the following is a speci fication.

Figure 1 is a plan view of my improvement, and Fig. 2 is a sectional elevation of the same, taken through the line 00 00, Fig. 1.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts.

The object of my invention is to simplify and cheapen the construction ofthe kind ofrailroadswitches that are operated by the weight of the car-horses.

The invention consists in the combination, with the switch-frame, the switch-tongue, and the plates hinged at their inner corners, of the sliding bar and the pairs of V-shaped blocks, whereby the said switch-tongue will be shifted by the weight of the horses of a passing car, as will be hereinafter fully described.

In the accompanying drawings, Arepresents a frame of suitable size, made of cast-iron or other suitable material, and bedded in a hole in the roadway, so that its upper edge will be flush with the surface of the said roadway.

In the edges of the opposite sides of the frame A are formed recesses to receive the switch-plate B, the said recesses being made of such a depth that the upper surface of the said switch-plate will be flush with the upper edge of the said frame A.

The switch-tongue O is hinged to the plate B at the end of the central flange of the said plate 13, so that the free end of the said tongue can be turned against either side flange to guide the car-wheels in the proper direction.

To the middle part of the tongue 0 is attached the upper end of a pin or bolt, D, which passes through a short cross-slot, E, in the switch-plate B, and is attached to the center of the cross-bar F. The cross-bar F passes through and slides in guide-holes G in the sides of the frame A, the friction being lessened, if desired, by small rollers pivoted to the said frame A beneath the said cross-bar F.

To the frame A, at the opposite sides of the switch-plate B, are pivoted the inner corners (No model.)

of two plates, H, which rest upon the shoulders of rabbets formed in the inner sides of the upper edges of the frame A, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

Upon the outer middle part ofthe under side of the plates H are formed, or to them are attached, angular or V-shapcd projections or blocks I, and upon the upper side of the sliding cross-bar F are formed, or to it are attached, corresponding V-shaped projections or blocks J, in such positions that when one of the blocks J is beneath the corresponding block I and supports the plate H in a raised or inclined position, as shown in the right-hand part of Fig. 2, the other block J will beat the inner side of the corresponding block I and will allow the other plate H to restin the rabbets of the frame A, as shown in theleft-hand part of Fig. 2.

WVith this construction the tongue 0 will always be against the flange of the switch-plate B, next the raised plate H.

With this construction, also, when the car is to pass upon the open track, the horses will walk over the horizontal plate H and the tongue 0 will remain stationary. When the car is to pass upon the closed track the horses will walk over the raised or inclined plate H and force the said plate downward, which downward movement of the plate II will press the inclined side of the block J and will move the cross-bar F, shifting the tongue 0 and raising the other plate H, ready to be pressed down in turn when a car is to pass upon the other track.

Having thus described my invention, Iclaim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent In a railroad-switch, the combination, with the frame A, the switch-tongue O, and the plates H, hinged at their inner corners, of the sliding bar F and the pairs of V-shaped blocks I J, substantially as herein shown and described, whereby the said switch-tongue will be shifted by the weight of the horses of a passing car, as set forth.

ABRAHAM AYRES. lVitnesses:

J AMES T. GRAHAM, O. SEDewIcK. 

